Treatment of canvas and similar woven fabrics



T. ANDREW.

TREATMENT OF CANVASAND SIMILAR WOVEN FABRICS. APPLICATION FILED 050.27, 1921.

1,425,934, Patented Aug, 15, 1922.

. 2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

IH HHH I! T. ANDREW.

TREATMENT OF CANVAS AND SIMILAR WOVEN FABRICS.

APPLICATION FILED own. 1921.

Patented Aug. 15, 1922.

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UNITED STATES PATENT entices THOMAS-ANDREW, or nocnpntn, ENGLAND, AssIeNonmo No. 2 1). R. corro ivIILLs,

LIMITED, or .REGENTS PARK" IE'ANY.

Germany or LoNnoN, ENGLAND, ainn rrsircom TREATMENT OF ,oANvns AND SIMILAR WOVEN FABRICS;

Specification of Letters Patent. Patenj gd ,Aug 15 ,1922

Application filed. December 27,, 1921; Seria1=No. 525,186;

To all whom it mag concern Beit known that LT IoMAs-Aivnnnw, a subject of the King ofGreat Britaim'residing at Ro'yleCottage, Gipsy Lane-,==Rochdale, inthe county of Lancaster,' England, have invented certain'new and'useful Improvements in or .Relating to the Treatment of Canvas and Similar WVoven liabrics; of which the following is aspecificatio'n.

This invention relatesto the treatment of canvas and Similar woven fabri-cs the chief object being to enable the side selvedgeproduced during the weaving ofvsuch fabrics to be broken or destroyed without cutting away the entire selvedg'e portions, which latter operation results'in'a waste of material as well as diminishes the width .of the canvas or similar fabric. This'destruction of the selvedge is desirable in the case of canvas intended for the ;manufacture of pneumatic tyres and the like.

According to the inventionthe selvedges of the woven canvas or similar fabric are broken or destroyed by removing certainiof the warp threads andsimultaneously combing out the'ends of weft threads associated with said warp threads. For this purpose the canvas-or similar fabric as: itis received from" the loom may be delivered from a roller to stentering-=means and passed over a table provided at or near one end thereof with appropriate devices adapted to engage the selvedgesof the fabric toeffectthea removal of the warp threads desiredv tobe removed and also to comb out the ends of the weft threads; Said devices may consistof a-cutter in the form ofwrollers or discs provided with teethor'their equivalent capable" of removing say one or two warp threads on eithersideof-thie canvas and simultaneously' combing out the exposed endsof;

the weft-threads. The said cutter may be driven-in any appropriate manner and the canvas after-undergoingtreatment may be rewo'und onto a roller-situated) at the opposite end ofthetable: to theroller from which the canvas is delivered. Y 1 In order'that the-said invention may be clearly understood and readily carried into efi ect the same will now bei described more fully with reference tosthe accompanying drawings, in which s- Figure '1 1s a sect onalelevation, 1

be found necessary for doingthe work required of 'themg and in addition'to a-sawtoothed disc or-d1scs,' one or more dlscs may be mounted .on the samespindle: or shaft and furnished. with suitably modified'perlpheral teethior surfaces for the special function ofcombing or z'brushing. outiithe loose fibres, in cases where the act on ofzthe rotary saw teeth 1 alone 1s, not found to give a:-satisfactory result: Thisicutter A is rotatably mounted in. a guard 13: and is driven by an electric motor C; The cutter'and mo tor are carried by a saddlefipiece Di vwhich I is capable of sliding along-theguides-dd 1 transversely with respect to the canvas passing through the machine@ The saddle piece;

is provided with a screw threadedlug ml with which engages a corresponding screwthreaded spindleqE: rotatably mounted beneaththe said saddle; piece Theaspindle. E is adapted to berotatedintermittently'for the purpose hereinafter:describedby means of an electricumotor F which is'r-connected through suitable-reducinggear e e 'tdthe said-v spindle. In theiexample shown-.Jthis gear, consists; of a worm and: worm wheel. The :said guides d cl are mounted 101 a second-saddlei piece -F which is also capable of sliding transversely along guidesf 7 in the iframe ofthe. machine-that is. to say'zin the same-direction-that the saddle piece D can-slide. This saddle piec'e F is also provided with al screw+threaded lug; f which engages the! screw-threaded ispindle G; ro-

- tatably mounted in the bed or .frameofthe table beneath-the saddle-piece F and .-pro-' vide'id. withza hand wheel g'whereby it can be manually rotated to-efiect the movement oft-he saddle-piece F H isa pin roller rotatably mounted ina steel die Which is adjustably fixed on the saddlepiece D in front of the cutter A for holding the canvas in position during the breaking down or destruction of the selvedges.

The action of the device is as follows: The canvas (represented by dot-and-dash lines in the drawings) is led over the scrimp rail W and the table of the machine and is connected to the batching up spool K and and is caused to travel over said table by rotating the said spool. The cutter having been set in motion is moved up to the edge of the canvas by rotating the handwheel g in the proper direction. The extent of this movement is such that the teeth of the cutter penetrates the selvedge of the canvas to a distance of say one or two warp threads. As the canvas travels over the table some of theteeth on the cutter act to cut the warp threads while others act to comb out the ends of the waft threads associated therewith. If it is desired to operate upon both selvedges of the canvas simultaneously another cutter arranged and adapted to operate as aforesaid would be mounted upon the opposite side of the table and in this case'the spindle G would be prolonged and formed with screw threads of the opposite twist to those shown in Figure 2; that is to say the threads at one end of the spindle would be left handed and at the other end right handed.

In order to compensate for variations inv the width of the canvas and at the same time to ensure that the teeth of the cutter penetrate the selvedge of the canvas to the same extent throughout its length an electrically operated device is arranged to control the aforesaid electric motor F and caused it to revolve either in a clockwise or anti-clock wise direction according to the variations which may occur in the width of the canvas and move the saddle piece D, together with the cutter A carried thereby. towards or away from the edge of the canvas so that the said cutter will be automatically displaced in relation to the position to which it was initially adjusted by the hand wheel g. For this purpose we have indicated a rod or feeler L (see Figure 4) which is arranged in front of the cutter A and is fixed to one end of a shaft Z which is free to oscillate in bearings M M. At the other end of the shaft Z is fixed a contact maker N in circuit with the motor F which is adapted'to make contact with the member 0. This member *comprises two insulated conductors 0 0 (see Figure 5) separated from one another by means of an insulating strip of material 0 'and'in circuit with the motor F. The feeler L may be kept in contact with the edge of the canvas by suitable means such as a spring so that it always tends to bear'lightcircuit with the motor F in such manner that the latter will move the saddle piece away from the edge of the canvas to compensate for the increased width in the canvas. If a portion of the canvas is met of narrower width the contact maker will be displaced to make contact with the other conductor and so cause the motor to rotate in the opposite direction and move the saddle piece and the cutter towards the edge of the canvas. So long as the width of the canvas remains constant the contact maker rests upon the insulating material 0 be=- tween the two conductors and thereby -ren-' ders the motor inoperative. A suitable arrangement of the electrical connections for effecting this control is shown in the dia gram, Figure 6, in which P and pindicate high voltage supply conductors Q a low voltage battery it and 1" relay coils placed on the saddle piece D under themotor F, G and 0 low voltage terminals of the relay coils T T T and T relay high voltage switch terminals and S s and s reversing motor terminals. lVhen the contact 'maker N is moved by the feeler L (Figure i) to make contact on the terminal 0 the relay coil R is energised by the battery Q'and the switch terminals Tan'd T are thereby closed so that the high voltage conductor P is connected to the motor terminal S, causing the motor to run in one direction of rotation. When the contact maker-h is moved. bythe feeler L to make contact with the terminal O the relay coil r :is energized by the battery Q, the switch terminals T and T* are closed, and the high voltage conductor P is connected to the motor terminal S, causing the motor to run in the opposite direction of rotation.

VVhat claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is 1. In a machine of-the class described, the combination of a support, a saddle-transversely mounted on said support arotatable cutter secured to said saddle, means on said support for intermittently moving said saddle, said machine adapted to receive a fabric therethrough, and "separate means adapted to bring said cutter into contact with the edges of the fabricso as to remove a certain of the warp threads therefrom and to simultaneously comb out the ends of the weftv threads associated with said warp threads. I

2. In a machine of the class described, the combination of a support, a saddle transversely mounted on said support, arotatable cutter secured "to said saddle, meanson-said support for intermittently moving said saddle, said machine adapted to receive a fabric therethrough, means adapted to bring said cutter into contact with the edges of the fabric so as to remove certain of the Warp threads therefro a and to simultaneously comb out the ends of the weft threads associated With said Warp threads, and means whereby intermittent lateral adjustment of the cutter relative to the edges of the fabric is automatically effected to compensate for variations in the Width of the fabric.

3. In a machine of the class described,the combination of a support, a saddle transversely mounted on said support, arotatable cutter secured to said saddle, means on said support for intermittently rotating said outter, said machine adapted to receive a fabric therethrough, means adapted to bring said cutter into contact With the edges of the fabric so as to remove certain of the Warp threads therefrom and to simultaneously comb out the ends of the Weft threads associated with said Warp threads, means for automatically adjusting the cutter relative to said fabric comprising ashaft loosely mounted on said support having depending arms secured at its opposed ends, one of said arms adapted to contact Withthe edge of the fabric and the other of said arms arranged to be brought into alternative contact With an electric switch so as to control the lateral movement of the cutter.

4:. In a machine for destroying the selved es of Woven fabric com arisin a su porting table, transversely disposed guides in said table, a saddle adjustably secured to said guides, a pair of guides mounted on said saddle, a second saddle slidably connected to said last mentioned guides having a cutter mounted thereon, means on said saddle for rotating said cutter, said cutter provided with a plurality of cutting discs adapted to remove certain of the warp threads of the fabric as it is conducted through the machine, and to simultaneously comb out the ends of the Weft threads associated With said Warp threads.

5. In a machine of the class described,the combination of a support, a saddle transversely mounted on said support, a rotatable cutter secured to said saddle, means on said support for intermittently moving said saddle, said machine adapted to receive a fabric therethrough, separate means adapted to bring said cutter into contact with the edges of the fabric so as to remove certain of the Warp threads therefrom and to simultaneously combout the ends of the Weft threads associated with said Warp threads, means for automatically adjusting the cutter relative to said fabric comprising a shaft loosely mounted on said support having depending arms secured at its opposed ends, one of said arms adapted to contact With the edge of the fabric and the other of said arms arranged to be brought into alternative contact with an electric switch so as to control the lateral movement of the cutter, and means secured to said table and contacting With the edges of said fabric for automatically adjusting the cutter relative to the fabric for the purpose specified.

6. In a machine of the class described, the combination of a support, a saddle slidably secured to said support, a cutter having a plurality of cutting discs mounted on said saddle, means on said saddle for rotating said cutter, said machine adapted to receive a fabric therethrough, means adapted to bring said cutter into contact With the edges of the fabric, separate means connected to said saddle for moving the latter laterally of said machine, and means operatively associated with said last mentioned means and engaging the edges of the fabric to impart a reciprocating movement to said saddle so as to automatically position the cutter to compensate for variations in the Width of the fabric.

THOMAS ANDREW. 

